If faced with an emergency situation such as an injury while hiking or your car breaking down in a remote location many people don't carry survival basics such as a knife, firestarter, or compass but most people do carry a cell phone. In an extreme emergency you can scavenge material from your cell phone to create a signal mirror to alert potential rescuers of your location.

Masculine skills weblog The Art of Manliness broke open several cell phones to see what parts can be scavenged for use in a survival situation. All of the phones had a metallic mirror-like material behind the screens. The material itself is very thin and hard to handle, but you can attach the reflective material to a hunk of bark using pine sap to make a serviceable signal mirror.

To use the mirror to try and communicate with a plane or someone far away hold up two fingers in a peace sign where your target is between the two figures. Aim the mirror toward the target—you'll be able to tell that sunlight is hitting the target when you see the reflection on your fingers making the peace sign. If this is hard to visualize check out the source link below for photos.

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In the past, we've covered how to short out your cell phone's battery with steel wool, but this project improves on that hack by using a piece of wire from a phone to short circuit the battery as most people don't carry steel wool. The source link below also shows how to make a compass, cutting tool, and fish hooks from your cell phone's components. Of course if you're in an emergency situation and have a working cell phone your best bet is to try and contact help via calling or texting, but if your battery is dead or if you've broken your phone tumbling down a hill these tips are well worth considering.